One Sunny Day
by Links6
Summary: Yami Bakura's homesick for the first time and luckily, Ryou's there... even if just to listen... Tender-Shipping


_**Disclaimer: I still don't own Yugioh or any of its related characters or themes!**_

_**AN1: Own bodies... fluffy-angsty fic... blah blah, we all know I don't get them as in-character as they should be ;)**_

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It's a sunny day, the first in a week. It's been warm and cloud-less the whole day, lending itself to long walks in the park and ice-cream. A sunny smiling day.

But, not even close.

He's been sitting there for almost two hours now.

That in itself is has the young hikari worried.

Ryou's trying his best to carry on with his homework with as much normalicy as he could, but it was just so…. _Distracting? Annoying? Passive? Heart-breaking? _

Considering his Yami's usual outings consist of making _other _people's lives a misery, this change of pace should probably considered a blessing.

But, as much as Ryou _tries _to appreciate it, he just can't.

"Touzoku?" Ryou pauses just long enough for his Yami to finally loll his head in Ryou's direction, "… are you alright?"

"Go on and finish your homework, boy," Touzoku mutters and turns his head again to look outside.

"You could tell me, I won't share it," Ryou presses on and takes a small step forwards.

"That I know"

"Will you tell me then?"

There was a long silence, stretched out and thick. The younger boy took it as a sign he should leave, but just as he started towards the dining table, the elder man spoke up.

"I feel sick…" he says and sighs deeply.

Before Ryou could even _think _to ask what symptoms ailed him, the spirit of the Ring continued. "I feel sick of longing…"

"You're homesick?"

"I just _said – I miss my homeland, _and now you think I'm SICK OF IT?!" the spirit growls dangerously.

Luckily, Ryou was much better a peacemaker than any of his friends, "Not at all, homesick, is an expression… you're homesick when you miss your home or your family so much… it makes you sick…" and Ryou knows all too well how it feels. He feels it every day. Ever since Amane… ever since his father left…

"… oh…" Touzoku almost starts to laugh, but it catches in his throat. He swallows down the knot forming in his throat, "… that's a very fitting expression…"

"Yes…" Ryou answers dryly, suddenly feeling a very real sensation of empathy between them. For the first time.

"Once… I had a family… my mother and father… my brother and sisters…" the older man rested his head in his hand and laughs bitterly, "I was closing the gates when it all happened… "

It was the first time that Ryou's dark had ever spoken anyting about his past. A strange tug of friendship, love and compassion suddenly washed away years of pain, uncertainty and isolation. So, Ryou just stood there, rooted on the spot, as he listened with his whole heart to what the man in front of him had to say.

"The screams… at first I thought it was part of the festival… then I heard it… the swords, the horses, their pain… _and for what?"_ Touzoku snaps angrily, his fists clenching into white knuckles. But he let it go after a second, seeming to fade into a place of despair. Fading into a darkness that is so deep-rooted it reaches beyond pain and grief, "To conciliate one Pharaoh's lust for power…".

Something like that… Ryou knows all too well. He knows how a sadness so great feels that breathing is just too much work. To lie and do nothing, is too great a task. When no matter how you try to heal, the blood seeping through the wounds seem to carve in deeper with every moment.

"It was just as beautiful out as it is today," Yami Bakura says wistfully, a tone that suddenly sounded strained as it tries to retain the quality, "I just wish so much that I was there with them…. Then I wouldn't be where I am now…"

The young boy stands there, turning away long enough to let his Yami dry the remainder of grief from his eyes before turning back. But, it was still there when Ryou turned back. And that just paralyzed Ryou even more. Seeing a man with more self-confidence than anyone Ryou has ever met… seeing a man with such a commanding presence… seeing a man with such a decisive nature - so broken.

The sound of his yami's bitterly painful muffled cries filled the room. Showing both of them just how well he had managed his grief after all these years. It shreds on the inside, to hear him cry. A blade's cut would not be so deep.

"If you weren't here now… " Ryou says and walks forwards, slowly and hesitantly resting a hand on his Yami's back and commiting to memory how his Yami doesn't brush him off like all the other times before, "I wouldn't have you…to be here with me."

A far away look appeared in his Yami's eyes, of a memory long gone and a hot desert village destroyed thousands of years ago... a young boy that had more courage than he let on and a familiar stranger whose words always seemed to reach his heart.

"...Hikari… I would like to try some tea…"

"_Tea?"_ Ryou pauses, the request jolting him back to reality. "But I…. I… Right… I'll go make us some…"

And just as Ryou turned, his Yami stood as well, head held high and a grin on his face. But now, Ryou knew. Ryou knew the truth…

and could never appreciate a sunny day after that.

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**_Thanks for reading! Please drop me a pm or review if you liked it, I'd really appreciate it ;DD_**


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